4 OPINION Page 4 Saturday, September 29, 1984 The Michigan Daily 4 The University's interest before justice Y By David Holtzman The University of Michigan, in its un- stoppable rush to adopt a conduct code and start a court system, is disregarding what ,Americans call injustice as it pursues its own interests. The code should serve justice, but the University has a reputation to protect. The American conception of justice is a well-known combination of penalties, procedures, deterrence, and safeguar- ds; when there is justice, we can sleep at night. Our moral sense would like codes of conduct to be motivated by justice. If we look at the code, as it now stands, to see what the Regents and the administration have in mind, we do not find justice at the top of their priority list; we find more selfish concerns. Fortunately, there is still time for change. IN A LETTER to the Daily on March 30, Student Legal Services director Margaret Nichols mentioned the argument (not hers) that "the Univer- sity needs a code. . . so that the University administration can avoid having to have students prosecuted in criminal courts with all the consequent potential for a life-wrecking criminal record." Why should the University ad- ministration care? It's obvious: A criminal prosecution doesn't just hurt the arrested student; it reflects badly on the University. A university usually wants to keep its students out of real- world court. Is doing so just or proper? No. The university may be helping students get away with crimes. Would the proposed code allow that to happen? Yes, very often. I was an undergrad at Princeton University and am familiar with the operation of its "code." Princeton ad- ministrators would readily admit that their disciplinary system assured the local police that "problems" with students were being "handled" by the university. They were pleased to keep police off campus. STUDENTS, then, could get drunk and get into brawls or break windows and street lamps or harass minorities with little fear of a criminal record. The. code seemed to protect vandals and other evildoers of the drunken asshole variety. If you think you might slip one day and fall into a drunkenm asshole mode, you should support the proposed code. A code shifts the focus of attention from the courts to the university justice system. After some intoxicated studen- ts in Princeton's (club-license) Pub harassed and threw things at a group of gays, most of the news was about what sort of penalty the University might dlish out to the offenders. That penalty would be issued quickly, although not publicly. To students, it assumed more importance than a real-world sentence would have. Why? Students may not admit it, but they cherish their relationship with their university. Their school provides them with an education and a reputation to use even long after graduation. In appreciation of that, and to maintain or enhance their alma mater's reputation, many alumni voluntarily give money and other gifts to their school. Furthermore, alumni and current students alike give great weight to the institutional decisions of their university. TO A STUDENT, it comes as quite a blow when his or her school acts in violation of his or her moral standards. A student may go as far as to publicly protest university actions, as did the students in last year's lab sit-in. It doubles the blow to find one's self, along with one's morals, in direct conflict with the university. Yet as a university effects a code of conduct to avoid what it perceives as damaging publicity, it thrusts itself into an adverse relationship with many of its students. Lots of students approach college with the ideal that their school will be a starting point and a training ground for their efforts at positive social change. Likewise, there is a common attitude that drug use is a University President would select eligible members from lists provided by student and faculty politicos and the Vice President for Student Services. Many faculty members play politico because they think it will help them get tenure. I need not mention how many MSA members go to law school. These people are institutionally likely to con- sider their own interests, and Univer- sity interests, when they render "justice." You might say "these people are the most likely to 'sell out' to the University." At Princeton; no one on the judicial 'A criminal prosecution doesn't just hurt the arrested student, it reflects badly on the University ... The University might be helping students get away with crimes. Would the proposed code allow that to hap- pen? Yes, very often.' a matter of public record. The Univer- sity should let the accused, the charges, and the determination to be known. To do otherwise would not serve justice; it would obstruct justice. THAT A University keeps its disciplinary determinations to itself does not mean that those deter- minations cannot be the subject of cour- troom interrogations: "Ah, Mr. Holt- zman, are you still a student at the University of Michigan? No? Why not?" For this reason, during my freshman year, 250 or more students (a large turnout at Princeton) came out for a demonstration requesting that Princeton postpone its disciplinary hearings for several students arrested in a drug bust until after their "real world" trials. Perhaps the University should post- pone its disciplinary hearings when other trials are pending. The standards of evidence required by the proposed code would convict a student who is not guilty and prejuctice his or her sub- sequent legal proceedings. This could also work the other way around. Lack of action by the University could be in- terpreted as a sign of innocence. Either way, when a trial is also pending, the University can no longer keep the rest. of the world from knowing about the alleged infraction, so the primary goal of the powers-that-be has already been frustrated. Sexual harassment is one area in which backers of the code promise justice. But once again, the University may be creating the appearance of "handling" the problem, and really not dealing with it. Even with the proposed loose rules of evidence it would be hard to prove violations. What is most important in a sexual harassment policy is having procedures which allow victims to ap- proach friendly counselors and authorities in confidence, without filing charges. Then let the authorities privately "suggest" to apparent offen- ders what they must do in order to avoid even the appearance of harassment. Formal charges and ac- tion must, of course, always be a possibility. This is the gist of a Prin- cetonian policy which, as a politico, I helped pass. Justice is very elusive where harassment is concerned. It is hard enough to define sexual harassment, much less reach disciplinary con- clusions. One should be skeptical of any claim that the code will be a panacea for this problem. Here, a victim and the University may have a similar desire to minimize publicity about the case. Un- der the proposed judicial system, the harassment may unfortunately con- tinue, as the stiff, impersonal for- malities of the code deter the victim from taking any action. As it stands now, the code would create a judicial system run by people predisposed to sell out to the ad- ministration. The system would then act mainly to limit publicity that might damage the administration's and Univer- sity's interests. The system would thereby obstruct, rather than provide, justice. The interests and priorities of the Regents and the administration can be seen by examining the code. If they put justice at the top of their priority list, we will see some significant changes. Holtzman served on the rule- making council of the Princeton University cormunity in 1981. He is currently a second year student in the School of Public Health. natural, manageable part of college life. But the proposed code is most likely to be harsh on demonstrators and drug traders, and indeed on anyone who might create what the powers-that-be at the University perceive to be bad publicity. What are these powers-that-be at the University, and who would have power under the code? How would the code allow these people to serve the Univer- sity, and not serve justice? THE PROPOSED Hearing Boards would consist of recommendation hounds and resume builders. The committee is allowed to hold any elec- ted office. Michigan should go further and explicitly prohibit Hearing Board members from receiving recommen- dations (for jobs or graduate school) related to their judicial work or listing that work on their resume. At Princeton, results of disciplinary hearings are not supposed to be made public, supposedly in order to protect the judged student, but likely also in or- der to minimize publicity about "trouble at the University." One of the best, most effective parts of real American justice, however, is that it is Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCV, No. 21 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Stalling on civil rights i Cramer. YOUR ?NEGO1?AnONS WILL END TJHE O MoWILW ACALN Yoo WILL ARM5 RACFTTIE ECNOMY WILLMOW AIN.Y WL BE STRONGER THAN EYER! MW WILD ;INVADE NICARAGUA! 7JE STOP POLLJTIOH! bU WILL FiCTIT:; l bEI( WILL KILL TE ECOIOIY.. FDR WOMENeS' IGTS... The percentage of women enrolling in medical schools across the country has tripled over the past 15 years and the number of first-year minority students in medical schools has doubled in the past decade, accor- ding to an American Medical Association study. These advances for women and minorities could all too quickly disappear if the current regressive climate for civil rights is allowed to continue. The Civil Rights Act of 1984, which the U.S. Senate voted to consider Thur- sday, would insure that recent advan- ces are not lost. The House passed this bill 375 to 32 last June, and time is run- ning out in the Senate as Congress plans to adjourn Oct. 5. The civil rights bill is opposed by the Reagan Justice Department, even though it has 63 co-sponsors in the Senate, including strong support from members of both parties. Bob Pack- woodbR-Oregon), who sponsored the bill, implied that he didn't think the measure would pass because of the few days left before session ends. This is no excuse. This legislation is not an enlargement of federal power, as the Justice Department officials claim. of BEE0 fr--TO dT k) K To A F-.. c c Instead, the bill would restore the laws against sex discrimination, and by im- plication those related laws preventing discrimination by race, age, and physical handicap, to their full power. Last February, the Supreme Court struck a blow to these crucial laws when they ruled that an institution receiving federal funds must comply in one department and yet can discriminate in others. This went against two decades of U.S. ad- ministrations, Republican and Democratic, forbidding the gover- nment, and thus taxpayers, to directly or indirectly finance bias. . If President Reagan wishes to prove that he supports fair and equitable laws, as opposed to those based on regressive civil rights policies, he should sign the bill which also includes a necessary emergency spending measure, and a crime-fighting measure that the president himself has been pushing. Minorities and women, as well as the handicapped and the elderly, are just beginning to make some important ad- vances, as this week's AMA study shows. Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1984 would make certain that one administration will not destroy decades of struggle for civil rights. MIN G L LETTERS TO THE DAILY Leiter To the Daily: Who is Brian Leiter and why is he so upset? "That Malasie called conservatism" (Daily, September 13). Judging by his essays, you'd think that all of us "functional illiterates" who sup- port capitalism had burned down 's intellectual intolerance I IWpW 1NAT I 15 NPT ArtY F oNE... 1IL 4LM-fT WOO Z1\CC.P;TO his house or something. Just look at the words he uses to describe conservatives and capitalism: "pathological", "frightening", ''diseased'', ''vicious'', "shameless distortion of reality", and "mythology". Leiter can't make up his mind as to the scope of the enemy. At one point it's "rich, white, Christian men". At another point it's liberatarians who wish to eliminate the welfare state. At another point it's conservatism and Ronald Reagan. And at yet wrong. What an awful reason for holding to an analogy-because you think it's right! Shame. Shame. Shame. I've never heard of a liberal who thought he was right. Leiter blasts material greed. I assume he's in law school for idealistic reasons. Heaven forbid that he's aware that lawyers make lots of money. Leiter says that "few scholars attempt to adhere to a conser- vative ideology." Perhaps he's reading the wrong journals. Leiter is very concerned with collective intellectual opinion-we all know that in-{ tellectuals know everything and that we the people know nothing. In Leiter's eyes, anybody who BLOOM COUNTY is suckered in by the concept of economic freedom manifested in capitalism is an idiot. If intellec- tualism is defined by Leiter's ramblings, then I'm proud to be a moron. Of course, isn't Brian's claim of intellectual superiority just a wee bit elitist (and ironic, considering his denunciations of elitism)? If the electorate doesn't agree with Leiter, he says it's not because they sincerely believe someone else, but because the masses are "functional illiterates". Brian's right. Me and most of my University frien- ds can't read or write too good. Therefore, we can't comprehend Leiter's article. Thus, we can't be swayed by his brilliant argumen- ts. Therefore nobody will be per- suaded by his piece, which makes me wonder why the hell he wrote it in the first place. The cartoon condeming in- tolerances was ideally jux- taposed. Leiter's article is a per- fect example of intellectual in- tolerance. Leiter makes one relevant statement: "All one need believe is that, at any given time, some descriptions are more useful and pertinent than some others. That one can discern between the somewhat-moderately-credible and the ridiculous." I agree. That's why nobody's listening to you, Brian. -Steve Angelotti September 13 by Berke Breathed i i Cfftk^ ,., v 7 A/ I I 7HF AMFarr Ahl rtYA1 MArk R1/7" 4 n A V fI